The USC Trojans saw wide receiver Drake London go in the top 10 of the 2022 NFL draft, at No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons.
Even after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in 2021 and playing in a poor offense, London shined brightly and drew plenty of attention from NFL scouts.
London’s landing spot with the Falcons seemed ideal, especially with the team in the midst of a rebuild and lacking pass-catchers. However, through the first seven games, London’s stats have been severely disappointing.
Up to this point, London has just 26 catches for 315 yards and a pair of scores. His best statistical game came against the Los Angeles Rams, when he caught 12 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
This past weekend was the most disappointing of them all — and none of it is London’s fault.
The Falcons lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 35-17, and London was targeted just one time.
Atlanta Falcons:
*Use 4th overall pick on pass-catching tight end Kyle Pitts
*Use 8th overall pick on wide receiver Drake London
*Throw 13 times for a combined 6 times to the above two players in favor of giving carries to a 5th-round RB in a full game of a negative game script— Sam Hoppen (@SamHoppen) October 24, 2022
Yes, just one target for the team’s best wide receiver in an 18-point loss and in a game where the Falcons trailed 21-0 and 28-7.
In all honesty, it’s confusing, but head coach Arthur Smith wants to establish the run and is doing just that.
Drake London saw 1 target today. One. When his team was trailing by 10+ points on 91% of their offensive plays. It was his lowest target total AND target share of the season. It was actually the first time his target share was under 20%.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) October 23, 2022
London entered the 2022 season with a ton of buzz and NFL Rookie of the Year potential, but at this point, he will have a very difficult time even getting to 700 yards through no fault of his own.
Marcus Mariota has been the quarterback, and maybe things will get better in the future with former Cincinnati Bearcat QB Desmond Ridder expected to be the team’s starter next season.
The Falcons’ refusal to throw the ball to London and tight end Kyle Pitts has to be one of the most puzzling developments of the entire NFL season up to now, and there isn’t much hope that it improves.
Hopefully things change and London can showcase his true talent that we saw so often in L.A.
[mm-video type=video id=01gg345p6t7xjvx2zgam playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gg345p6t7xjvx2zgam/01gg345p6t7xjvx2zgam-1726debdee701b2b380d4f7a9d812e72.jpg]
[listicle id=50660]